A wrap-up of posts published on Maven’s Notebook this week …
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In California water news this week …
National Academies releases report on the long-term operations of the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project
“At the request of the USBR, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine established a committee to conduct a biennial review of the monitoring, modeling, and other relevant scientific activities of the CVP and the SWP. This first report in the series examines three actions designed to help protect the fish —the Shasta Coldwater Pool Management Action, the Old and Middle River Flow Management Action, and the Summer-Fall Habitat Action for Delta Smelt. The report evaluates the scientific basis for each of the actions, along with monitoring and modeling needs, and makes specific recommendations for strengthening each of them to help them reach their stated goals.” Read more here.
Environmental groups send Trump administration legal notice for killing endangered species
“Today, a coalition of nonprofit environmental organizations issued a notice of intent to take legal action against the Trump administration for diverting water in the San Francisco Bay’s Delta and violating the Endangered Species Act in a way that harms imperiled species. Excessive pumping of water has harmed and killed winter-run Chinook Salmon, California Central Valley Steelhead, and Green Sturgeon, creating conditions that threaten these iconic species. These impacts are due to excessive water diversions by the federal Central Valley Project and the neighboring State Water Project. The two projects’ combined water exports from the Delta, for example, cause the Old and Middle Rivers to flow backwards on average rather than towards San Francisco Bay. The stronger this reverse flow, the higher the losses of native fish. … ” Continue reading this press release.
Environmental advocates push for fair and inclusive process, not fast-tracking, of the Delta tunnel
“Environmental advocates are calling on the Delta Stewardship Council (Council) to honor its commitments to environmental justice, fairness and transparency for public review of the Certification of Consistency for the Delta Conveyance Project (DCP). In a letter sent on November 6, San Francisco Baykeeper and Restore the Delta urged the Council to extend deadlines to ensure proper public participation, criticizing the current timeline and process for being rushed and shutting out Tribes and Delta residents. The Department of Water Resources had submitted its Certification of Consistency to the Council on November 17 with roughly 85 files and links, but continued to upload thousands of additional documents in the following weeks, inflating the number of documents to over 21,000 files. The groups warn that the Council’s decision to start the standard 30-day appeal process on November 17, before all documents and materials were uploaded by DWR, undermines the rights of those that would be most impacted by the DCP. … ” Read more from Restore the Delta.
Delta Caucus leaders call on state commission to appeal tunnel project certification
“Delta Caucus co-chairs, Assemblywoman Lori Wilson and Sen. Jerry McNerney on Thursday called on the Delta Protection Commission to file an official appeal of the certification “of the costly and destructive Delta Tunnel Project.” “The Legislature established the Delta Protection Commission to ‘protect, restore, and enhance the Delta ecosystem,’ so we call on the commission to appeal the certification of the Delta Tunnel Project because it will devastate communities, farms, the environment, and historic and cultural resources surrounding the largest and most important estuary on the West Coast,” Wilson, D-Suisun City, and McNerney, D-Pleasanton, said in a joint statement. “The deeply flawed certification of the tunnel project must not move forward because it fails to adequately address the widespread destruction that the project will inflict on a generation of Delta residents and their communities. … ” Read more from the Daily Republic.
Experts warn ‘California will be a desert’ as atmospheric rivers move north
“In recent decades, a dramatic shift has been unfolding high above the Pacific Ocean. Vast corridors of moisture known as atmospheric rivers (ARs)—responsible for transporting nearly 90% of the world’s atmospheric water vapor from the tropics to mid-latitudes—are migrating northward. Since 1979, scientists have tracked these “rivers in the sky” moving 6 to 10 degrees closer to the poles, a change with profound consequences for regions like California that depend on them for rain and snow. … Experts warn that without rapid adaptation, California’s urban water security, wildfire resilience, and agricultural productivity could all be at risk. “Our infrastructure was designed for a climate that no longer exists,” said Dr. Emily Chen, a climate scientist at UC Davis. “We need to rethink everything from reservoir operations to drought planning.” … ” Read the full story at MSN News.
Atmospheric river researchers in Marysville begin critical work amid Northern California storm
“As a storm moves through Northern California, the real work is just beginning for atmospheric river researchers. “Understanding the storms helps them make the simple decision of do you fill or do you spill,” said Douglas Alden, lead engineer with the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, or CW3E. Winter storm preparations aren’t just done before the weather hits. For atmospheric river researchers, critical work happens during the storm. Alden traveled from San Diego to Marysville to launch weather balloons and collect real-time data to help guide reservoir operations. “We’re launching here in Northern California from Bodega Bay and Marysville for this storm,” he said, “the weather balloon launches are a key component of a much larger program called atmospheric river reconnaissance.” … ” Read more from CBS News.
In burned forests, the West’s snowpack is melting earlier
“As the American West warms due to climate change, wildfires are increasingly burning in higher-elevation mountains, charring the watersheds where the region’s vital snowpack accumulates. A new study has found that in the immediate aftermath of fires across the region, the snowpack disappears earlier in burned areas. This change can threaten forest health and affect the downstream farms, cities and species that rely on the snowpack for their water, according to other research. Scientists who study the effects of wildfires on the snowpack and streamflows are finding that the story is complex and nuanced. The impacts can vary greatly across the West’s diverse ecosystems and topography. Plus, each wildfire burns differently, so the severity of the blaze is another critical factor. While streamflow volume typically increases after a wildfire, the peak flows come earlier in the season, and the water may be clogged with sediment that can harm wildlife and water infrastructure. … ” Read more from the Water Desk.
“We’re not stopping.” Kings County Farm Bureau vows to take groundwater case to state Supreme Court
“The Kings County Farm Bureau is passing the hat to raise between $1.5 million and $2 million to take its legal claims against the state Water Resources Control Board to the California Supreme Court. “We’re not stopping,” Executive Director Dusty Ference told a gathering of about 30 farmers Friday. “We are arguing that SGMA and this probationary designation has statewide implications so broad that it’s appropriate for the (state) Supreme Court to review this,” he said. “Frankly, we didn’t expect the appellate court to review the steps that they reviewed, so we are hopeful that is an indicator of what the state supreme court might do.” … ” Read more from SJV Water.
PPIC Report: Water research amid changing state–federal partnerships
“California’s well-being depends on access to high-quality, reliable water—and research helps managers decide how to use that water wisely. But the state faces daunting challenges, including a rapidly changing climate, aging infrastructure, and changes at the federal level. We explore how research can help the state meet this moment.” Read more from the PPIC.
A fireside chat with Metropolitan Water District’s Deven Upadhyay
“General manager Deven Upadhyay has guided Metropolitan Water District through major droughts and much more. As he prepares to retire at the end of the year, we sat down with him to talk about his experiences guiding an urban water agency through the volatile 21st century. Q: How is our current water infrastructure dealing with the challenges posed by a changing climate? A: Industry-wide, it’s a mixed bag. The 2020–22 drought was almost our Day Zero. In 2022, we saw the lowest State Water Project allocation in the state’s history—they were allocating on a human health and safety basis for the first time. Without the major investments we had made in storage, conservation, and transfers, we would have been facing a Day Zero—when we would have had to severely curtail deliveries to as low as 13 gallons per person per day. The fact that we didn’t have to says a lot about how the region has planned for variability and drought. It showed that we could get through climate extremes with moderate impact to consumers, which wasn’t the case everywhere. … ” Continue reading from the PPIC.
New ballot measure push aims to overhaul California’s landmark environmental law
“One election just ended, but another potentially major voter battle has already started in California. No, not the governor’s race, but a proposed ballot measure that could make significant changes to one of the state’s landmark environmental laws — the California Environmental Quality Act. Late last month, the California Chamber of Commerce announced it had filed paperwork to place a measure on next November’s statewide ballot that would overhaul the law, commonly known as CEQA, with the goal of cutting red tape, lowering housing and energy costs, and making construction easier. If the Chamber and its supporters collect 546,000 valid signatures by next spring, as expected, the “Building an Affordable California Act” would impose a 365-day limit on environmental reviews for a wide range of projects, including new reservoirs, desalination plants, forest thinning to reduce wildfire risk, apartments, housing subdivisions, senior housing, student housing, roads, bridges, public transit, hospitals, medical centers, broadband internet, solar farms, wind farms and battery storage facilities. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News.
In commentary this week …
As Trump sends California water to farmers, native salmon face extinction
Opinion columnist Tom Philp writes, “California’s wild salmon have faced just about every obstacle imaginable over the decades as they now cling to survival. Dams have blocked where they are supposed to spawn. Levees deny young fish the floodplain for feasting. Pumps send them in deadly wrong directions. But all the previous man-made threats to the salmon have nothing on President Donald Trump. The president’s water managers have been quietly and aggressively operating a vast federal system in California, attempting to squeeze out of reservoirs every last drop for water supplies. This has alarmed some Northern California water agencies, who fear there will be fewer water supplies in the coming years. For salmon, how Trump operates his California water system may prove to be the crucial difference between survival and a path toward extinction. … ” Continue reading at the Sacramento Bee.
In regional water news this week …
Salmon are back in the Klamath River. Now farmers want to keep them off their land
“Observers have rejoiced at recent sightings of Chinook salmon swimming past former Klamath River dam sites toward historic spawning grounds. Scott White, general manager of the Klamath Drainage District, shared in the celebration but grew nervous after spotting Chinook in canals used to divert water to agricultural land. He said long-planned screens to keep fish from washing onto farmland are not yet in place. “They’re in our canals, which don’t get me wrong, it’s pretty darn exciting to see salmon in our canals,” White said. “But obviously, we want to make sure that the fish are protected, just as much as we want our growers protected.” … ” Read more from Jefferson Public Radio.
In Mendocino, river restoration pays off for salmon
“Conservationists restoring salmon along California’s North Coast have a mantra: A good coho salmon stream looks like a teenager’s bedroom — if teenagers discarded logs and branches instead of dirty clothes. Surveying a stretch of the Navarro River one morning last spring, Anna Halligan, a conservation biologist with Trout Unlimited, was delighted. “This is exactly what we want,” she said, examining the debris-filled water. The twigs, dirt and branches around a fallen redwood had slowed the river to a crawl and carved out a deep, sun-dappled pool underneath the trunk. In September 2020, Trout Unlimited’s partners spent days selecting a redwood and then carefully maneuvering it into the river to make it more coho-friendly. That tree has now vanished — crushed under this much larger redwood, likely carried downriver by this winter’s rains. The collision has created even more of a “mess” than Halligan could have planned. Halligan climbed down for a closer look. Within minutes, a young, silvery coho flashed into view in the new pool. … ” Read more from High Country News.
Federal judge could pause razing of trees on American River Parkway in Sacramento
“A federal project cutting trees on the American River Parkway to fortify banks against flooding could be stalled as a judge heard arguments Friday from environmental groups seeking a preliminary injunction. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers planned flood protection measures at the lower American River, Natomas East Main Drainage Canal, Arcade Creek and Magpie Creek. Congress in 2016 approved about $1.5 million to safeguard about 11 miles across those rivers. The Central Valley Flood Protection Board approved work concerning the lower American River this year. The American River Parkway is at the heart of a lawsuit filed by Sacramento nonprofits and the Center for Biological Diversity, a national environmental conservation group. A judge will consider whether to block a 3.3-mile portion of the Corps’ work, between Watt and Howe avenues. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee.
Split verdict over State of the Estuary
“The 2025 State of Our Estuary assessment, released this fall at a regional conference, takes the pulse of the San Francisco Estuary in 17 indicators. It’s a health checkup for over 38 million acres of interconnected rivers, bay, and marsh, revealing which restoration efforts are paying off and where our waterways are still struggling to catch their breath. The indicators are the visible, measurable bits that scientists can count, test, and track over time: bird counts, acreage of eelgrass, concentration of mercury in an estuary fish. Sometimes, the canary in the coal mine is the marsh-dependent Ridgway’s rail — whose numbers have declined to under 1,200 largely due to urbanization of the shore. … ” Read more from Knee Deep Times.
Robots reshaping San Rafael: A bold bid to terraform cities against floods
Cal Jeffrey writes, “Whenever I hear the word “terraforming,” I immediately think of sci-fi novels like Larry Niven’s Ringworld or games like No Man’s Sky, where you can literally dig down or pile up earth to suit your needs. Now, a San Francisco startup is using the concept to save sinking cities and restore wetlands. San Rafael is sinking into the ocean. The small city just north of San Francisco is already three feet below sea level and is sinking about half an inch per year. The city’s elevation and proximity to the Bay increase its risk of flooding, particularly from rising sea levels. Other cities in the US and overseas are in similar situations. A Climate Central study estimates that some 300 million people could face routine flooding by 2050. Conventional protection relies on seawalls, which would cost more than $400 billion in the US alone. A new startup is proposing an out-of-the-box approach that could achieve the same goal for a fraction of the cost. … ” Read more from Tech Spot.
Valley Water, Trout Unlimited and partners remove century-old dam to reopen habitat for threatened steelhead
“A major step forward for fish and river health was recently achieved in South Santa Clara County with the removal of Pickell’s Dam. Once a century-old barrier on Little Arthur Creek, the dam no longer served a purpose but continued to block steelhead migration and disrupt the creek’s natural process. Valley Water and Trout Unlimited partnered to bring it down, opening the way for a healthier river ecosystem. Located about a mile upstream from Uvas Creek, the barrier cut off more than three miles of high-quality spawning habitat for South-Central California Coast Steelhead, a species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. With the dam now gone, steelhead can once again reach upstream habitat. The creek also regains its natural flow, gravel movement, and habitat-forming features. The project also benefits other native aquatic species, such as amphibians, that can now freely move upstream and downstream. … ” Read more from Valley Water News.
Salinas Valley well owners are now required to register with Monterey County
“A new well registration program in the Salinas Valley requires all well owners to register by Jan. 31, 2026. The Monterey County Water Resources Agency (MCWRA) and the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SVBGSA) launched the program aiming to better understand and protect groundwater resources in the Salinas Valley. The registration can be found on the County of Monterey’s website and can be submitted by email or mail. … ” Read more from KSBY.
Flood, mudslide risk surges across Southern California as multi-day storm gets underway
“A strong Pacific storm is bringing soaking rain to Southern California and raising the risk of life-threatening flooding, mudslides and debris flows, especially near burn scars in the Los Angeles area. A mix of heavy rain and strong winds moved through northern and central California on Thursday. Widespread rainfall totals of 1 to 2 inches were observed along the coast into Friday morning, with isolated amounts of 3 to 5 inches in the coastal mountain ranges. San Francisco received nearly an inch and a half of rain Thursday, almost 75% of November’s average. November marks a transition into the rainier winter season, with December to February marking the wettest months of the year in the Bay Area. … ” Read more from CNN.
SEE ALSO: Southern California is in for a weekend of severe weather, forecasters say: What we know, from the LA Times
As a century-old oil field winds down, what’s next for Baldwin Hills? A sprawling park or housing?
“The 342-foot climb from Culver City streets to the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook is a monster, but the payoff is sublime: panoramic views from Santa Monica Bay to the San Gabriel Mountains. Almost sublime, that is. The foreground is a scar of denuded earth, storage tanks and bobbing pumpjacks — the legacy of oil discovered a century ago when only farmhouses were scattered over the surrounding flatlands. A long and inevitable clash came when suburbia closed in around the 1,000-acre Inglewood Oil Field, as occurred at oil facilities all over the region. Now that conflict is coming to a resolution. A state edict, if it holds up in court, would require drilling and pumping to stop by the end of the decade. What hasn’t been resolved is what will then become of one of the region’s last great pieces of undeveloped land. … ” Read more from the LA Times. | Read via AOL News.
SoCal: The deadliest toxic algae bloom on record is behind us; what’s next?
“Jules Leon climbed into a Ford pickup truck fitted with a net, a wheeled crate he calls a “moon buggie” and a defective winch. It was March 18 and Leon was on his way to Redondo Beach — for his third call of the day. Leon, a responder with San Pedro’s Marine Mammal Care Center, checked in with lifeguards to confirm that a sick sea lion was last seen just north of the Avenue B Lifeguard Tower. Leon located the sea lion — which showed clear signs of domoic acid toxicosis — and, with the help of ocean lifeguard Charles Pogue, quickly captured and transported the mammal back to the Marine Mammal Care Center for treatment. … That’s because Southern California’s 2025 toxic algae bloom was unprecedented — in scale, length and deadliness. Hundreds of dolphins and sea lions succumbed to elevated levels of domoic acid from San Diego to Santa Barbara. Not even birds were spared. Ultimately, multiple marine species — including some that hadn’t been affected before — required treatment. For months, from late winter to early summer, rescue centers nursed sick animals back to health and investigated why this bloom was so much worse than previous ones. … ” Read more from the Los Angeles Daily News.
Five Native tribes are coming together to protect a California cultural landscape
“Chuckwalla National Monument is more than an epic expanse of towering rocks, hidden canyons, ghost flowers, smoke trees and its namesake lizard. One of America’s newest protected public lands is a birthplace, a crossroads, a beloved relative and a historical document to the tribes of the California desert. Stretching across 624,000 acres from the Coachella Valley to the Colorado River at the state’s border with Arizona, this landscape possesses a spirit and energy that flow through every object, every living thing and every molecule of air within it, according to tribal members. When an ecosystem is so ingrained in your psyche, so essential to your culture and so central to the stories you tell about your reason for being, you have no choice but to safeguard it. This is the galvanizing sentiment behind the recent creation of an unprecedented commission for California that brings together five tribes to advise the U.S. government on the management of a monument that holds specific meaning to each and is a treasure to all. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
No deal on Colorado River
“Water managers from the seven states that share the Colorado River have blown a deadline given to them by the federal government to come up with a rough plan on how the drought-stricken river will be shared in the future. The Upper Basin (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) still cannot find agreement with the Lower Basin (California, Arizona and Nevada) about how the nation’s two largest reservoirs — Lake Powell and Lake Mead — will be operated and how cuts will be shared in dry years. In June, Scott Cameron, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s acting assistant secretary for water and science, said federal officials would need to know the broad outlines of a plan from the states by Nov. 11. Despite frequent meetings in recent months, negotiators were unable to hammer out a deal by Tuesday, leaving future management for the water supply for 40 million people in the Southwest cloaked in uncertainty. Instead, the states, the Interior Department and the federal Bureau of Reclamation released a short joint statement Tuesday afternoon, noting that serious and ongoing challenges face the Colorado River. “While more work needs to be done, collective progress has been made that warrants continued efforts to define and approve details for a finalized agreement,” the statement reads. “Through continued cooperation and coordinated action, there is a shared commitment to ensuring the long-term sustainability and resilience of the Colorado River system.” … ” Read more from Aspen Journalism.
States blow past Colorado River deadline, Arizona wants feds to order water cuts
“Negotiators from seven Western states missed a crucial deadline Tuesday to reach a consensus on dividing up water from the Colorado River. The states are negotiating new guidelines for how the federal government manages the largest dams and reservoirs on the river. The current guidelines have been in place since 2007 — but they expire this year, and a new plan needs to be in place by fall of 2026. The Interior Department set Tuesday’s deadline in June, although states have been hurtling towards the current impasse for around two decades. During that time, growing demand for water, plus an increasingly hot, dry climate, has squeezed supplies on the river. At issue is how the Upper Basin states (Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico) and the Lower Basin states (Arizona, Nevada, California) will cut back their water use in the future. … ” Read more from Colorado Public Radio.
Announcements, notices, and funding opportunities …
CA WATER COMMISSION: Water Storage Investment Program Notice of Proposed Emergency Regulation
